


Personal Notes (20) Reading into things.

by longhairshortfuse



Series: Carlos's Secret Diary [20]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Porn, Smut, mild though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-27 20:26:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1721510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longhairshortfuse/pseuds/longhairshortfuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the team get stuck in a good book during the Summer Reading Programme. Cecil takes the subway, Carlos picks up the pieces afterwards.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Personal Notes (20) Reading into things.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have never read anything by Jasper Fforde you need to put that right. Now. Go buy a book, preferably "The Eyre Affair" and read it. You still here? Why?

I was glad at first to hear that the public library has reopened, although the sudden appearance of doors and windows in the imposing but previously featureless building should have made me more suspicious. There is a summer reading program for local children. Apparently it used to be a regular feature of the town's calendar but stopped thirty years ago. I could ask Cecil, he might be old enough to remember it although I have no idea how old he actually is. My best guess is somewhere between late twenties and late forties depending on how well he looks after himself. 

The postgrads and I have been struggling with our informal book club since it is so difficult to get hold of new reading material. Most of the books we would like to read are banned or just declared not to exist. We have a stock of dust jackets from city council-approved biographies to disguise the books we are actually reading. At the moment Kiran and I are sharing one copy of Jasper Fforde's "Lost In A Good Book" and we arranged to have opposite shifts so that we never both need it at the same time. It also means we rarely meet which is bad for discussion but good for avoiding spoilers as I'm only at chapter seven and her bookmark is halfway through. 

I hoped that the reopening of the library might mean we could read a greater range of literature instead of depending on whatever we can have sent in from the outside world. The current novel arrived hidden in a hollowed out copy of "The Laboratory Safety Handbook, 23rd Edition". We figured there was no way anyone was ever going to open that to see what was inside.

However, as often happens here, things are not as innocent as they seem. Shortly after the library opened the doors and windows vanished again, trapping over 100 children and young adults inside. Kiran is also missing and I fear the worst, she said she would check if they had a second copy of our book that we could borrow. Gio and Ell went to the library and carefully measured its electromagnetic emission spectrum, absorption profile, mapped its thermal energy output to see if the windows were masked somehow but still present, set up an audio-frequency monitoring system, but to no avail. The windows had vanished and the facade was blank once more. All the audio system recorded was a selection of inhuman shrieking and a sound like fresh, wet carcasses slapping onto solid surfaces. 

After a few hours the library doors and windows reappeared and some of the trapped children emerged. They appeared to have been through an ordeal, but were physically unharmed although like many places in Night Vale time seems to have run differently in the library. One of the children, a girl called Tamika, we know her because she occasionally used to visit the lab to ask awkward questions about what we were doing, held a severed head in one hand. Ell said it was not human and not part of any animal she had encountered in Biology lectures. 

Kiran did not return from her trip to the library. Later, I read the next chapter of our book and there was a new section at the end. I transcribe it here:

_Hi Prof!_  
 _I really hope you keep reading, this is an awesome book. I went to the library like I said, and they did have another copy. As I took it off the shelf, I was attacked by some creature, almost but not quite human-looking but taller, with huge teeth and a bit of a blood-and-organ fetish. I ran and hid in the stacks where I met up with a few other survivors. Tamika was there, you know that kid who is always asking questions. She's a fighter! We hid for a while then Tamika got everyone organised into some kind of military order. When the little ones got hungry she came back with some kind of meat, I didn't ask but there were a few scales still attached, and I used a selection of volumes from the celebrity autobiography shelf to make a fire to roast it. I played mother to the juniors for a few days while Tamika and the more feisty kids went out on librarian-hunting parties with spears made from shards of broken shelving. I read my library book, getting more and more absorbed, really getting lost in the plot. And here I am. In the book. Pass it on to Tamika if you see her, once you're finished of course, we had an interesting discussion about Night Vale and I have a few useful pieces of information for her. I'm learning how to jump from book to book and when I can do it properly I will have access to any and all written material, not just novels. Tell her to keep reading and re-reading this book. I will come back here to add anything I find out._

_Kirandeep Kaur x_

_p.s. don't worry about me, I actually feel safe for the first time in months, but there's a different storm coming for you._

I have no idea what she means but I will keep the book safe and pass it on when I get a chance.

*****

An entire subway system appeared overnight. We decided this warranted a full investigation. One station materialised right across the street from the lab. I was tempted to try using the subway as there was also a station next to the radio station but the rest of the team suggested it was perhaps a bit rash. Phrases Ell used included, "bloody stupid idea" and "judgement clouded by the overwhelming desire to go fuck your boyfriend, try thinking with your brain today please." So I didn't take an unscheduled break to visit Cecil after all.

Instead we conducted a survey at a few stations. We asked people going into the stations why they were using the subway, we asked people leaving the stations where had they been and how long had it taken. The results were very interesting. Some people had a perfectly normal journey, they got on, travelled for a few minutes then got off again. Others had a deeper experience involving a time rift, a sensation of rebirth and having stared into darkness and void beneath the city. A few went into the station and did not come out at all. On balance, I was glad Ell stopped me from trying it out. It would be so useful if it was safer and more reliable.

We asked a few of the travellers who had seen the void if they would let us examine them, and a few of those said yes. Ell and I measured their biometrics whilst Gio took samples for DNA analysis. All of the travellers had slight changes to their DNA, just a few bases here and there, that would result in their cells producing proteins unlike any Ell had seen in humans before. She reported that some of the travellers would probably die as a result of producing the wrong enzymes but others would find their mutations beneficial. Some unlucky passengers had their DNA reduced to a useless string of nonsense non-genes, telomeres broken and completely washed out. They barely made it out of the station before dropping. I called Cecil with our report.

I had suspicions about who is behind the subway. There were some very clear links to increased productivity in the advertising posters and flyers, and I can think of only one organisation that makes constant reference to the importance of productivity. A press conference was held outside the remains of the library at which a group of masked figures claimed responsibility. They also told us not to kill the roaches that have overrun the town. We collected a few for further observation and they have advertising slogans painted on their backs. And a little yellow triangle painted on the underside of each one that we captured. I killed as many as I could find.

Cecil reported that he had been for a trip on the subway. He has got off lightly. Although he made it through his show with a calm, professional voice, I could tell that his experience had shaken him. I decided to be his personal feelings delivery service and went to see him after his show. By car. 

I picked him up from the station and he sank into my arms, shaking. It was like we hadn't seen each other for years, although for me it was only a few days ago, at most a week, that he was last in my arms, briefly, as we met for coffee between shifts and held hands under the table. It is so difficult to find time.

I took Cecil home. We went in to his apartment, stood in the tiny hallway and I held him close.  
"I was gone for so long," he said, "it felt like I would never be home again."  
"You're home now," I said, not letting go.

He made a sobbing noise that broke my heart. I picked him up and carried him into the lounge, laid him on the sofa and sat on the floor beside him, holding his hands. He let go one hand and stroked my face.  
"Stay a while?" he said. Of course I would.  
I got on to the sofa and lay beside him. We clung to each other, each with our own hopes and fears.  
I said, "I want to look after you, will you let me?"  
He clung tighter in response. I stroked his hair and kissed his damp forehead.  
His breathing evened, and I realised he was asleep. I kissed him again, softly so as not to wake him up, and carried him to bed. I had not been in Cecil's bedroom before. It was as I expected from my (many) fantasies, clean and neat and smelled good. I laid him on the bed. 

What now? 

It was relatively early but Cecil was completely exhausted from his experience on the subway. I removed his shoes, socks, tie and trousers without waking him but had to rouse him a little to get him out of his shirt and under the sheet. He manoeuvred a smile. "Knew you just wanted to get me into bed," he said.  
"Yeah, right," I replied, kissing him again. "that's totally why I'm here fully dressed and fussing."  
He woke up a little more, looked at me. I looked back. To this day there is nothing I can do when I get lost in those beautiful eyes.  
"I need you." he said, keeping eye contact. I nodded. I wanted him, but...  
"Okay, are you sure? You've had quite a day."  
"Yes." he said. "I've had quite a day and you promised to look after me. This is what I need."  
And he reached for me.  
I lay beside him, fully dressed. We kissed, long and luxurious. I think he fell asleep again and I just lay there holding him. He stirred after a few minutes.  
"Too many clothes," he said, fumbling with my belt.  
"Let me," I said. I got up, undressed quickly and got back into bed. Cecil was fast asleep again. I held him close once more. If nothing else happened, this was still the best night of my life. I fell asleep too for a little while, my arms around Cecil and his head on my shoulder.

He woke me up with his hands around me. All over me.  
"I missed you," he said, "so very much," and kissed me fully awake. I kissed harder in return. I stroked down his back to his hips as he messed delightfully with my hair and my neck. I kissed his face, his neck where the soft skin curves to meet his shoulder. He sighed, moved a hand to trace my spine from my neck to my coccyx. That was as much as I could bear. I kissed him every inch, all the way from his lips to his groin.  
"Lie still," I said, "Promised to look after you, didn't I?" He nodded and lay still, with one hand remaining in my hair.  
He was willing, but not quite ready. I kissed his stomach gently, nipped the soft skin below his navel. Gently tongued the delicate skin between his legs until he begged me to take him. I licked up his erect shaft and took the end into my mouth. I circled my tongue, finding just the right frequency to make his muscle spasms intensify. He came quickly, gripping my hair and calling out my name as I felt his waves of warm, salty wetness.

It was the most amazing sound I have ever heard.

He fell asleep again, peaceful. I stayed and held him until I had to leave to make myself presentable for work. I knew he would have thrown me out if he had been able, so I disentangled myself from his arms, one of the most difficult things I have ever done, dressed quietly, wrote a soppy note on his refrigerator door in dry-wipe marker (strangely exempt from the ban) and came home.


End file.
